The executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote has been conferred with a Doctor of Science degree at the 8th convocation of the Imo State University, Owerri, over the weekend. He was awarded for his excellent contributions to the growth and transformation of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and the towering leadership he has provided for the development of local content in Nigeria and Africa. In the citation on Engr. Wabote who is an alumnus of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, and Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, the Imo State University stated: “prior to his current appointment as the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, he had an exceptional career in Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), spanning over 26 years. he held several leadership roles and positions, including Executive Director; General Manager Local Content, and General Manager, Business and Government Relations. In honouring Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, the authorities of Imo State University were holding him up as a model public servant, a thought leader in local content, astute manager of men and resources, who has acquired significant academic knowledge and applied it practically in transforming an important sector in the Nigerian economy. It showed in his success story at SPDC and even more at NCDMB, where the organisation has surpassed performance targets in several areas, including development of indigenous technical capability, and had upped Nigerian content from 26% in 2016 to 54 per cent at the end of 2022. Others, who received honourary doctorate degrees, were Nigeria’s first and only woman State Governor, Dame Virgy Ngozi Etiaba, who served between November, 3, 2006 and February 9, 2007, when the then Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi was impeached, before the Court of Appeal overturned the impeachment; Chief Oliver Chukwudum Alawuba, group managing director/CEO, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Chief Chika Emenike (NPOM), CEO, Kotec Group of Companies. This honourary doctorate degree is coming in the wake of several other national and international recognitions bestowed on the executive secretary and the board in recent months.
